.243 Winchester: What's your take?

Wife took her first deer 2 years ago with an SKS at 140yds. Once she had done that, I bought her a Savage 111 in .243. Loaded with 100gr Federal PowerShoks. She took another doe that year with it at 160yds. A VERY nice buck last year at 140yds (one shot that blew the lungs right out of it. I have NEVER seen a blood trail as wide as that and he only went about 15yds). She took another doe with a neck shot at 160yds but lost a third doe last year when she took a bad quatering shot toward her shot that I would not have taken but she chose to. We looked hard for that doe but we never found her.

The choice was based on weight, recoil, and accuracy. She also has a .303 now for Moose.

Nothing wrong with the .243Win.
 
243

i have an old pre 64 mod 70 on its third yes third barrel and i use it for everythingin north america .i used a 280 when i went to africa .ialso make my own 85 gr. hallow point bullets that wont go thru a coyote ribcage .they measure .2435 at the base .
 
Haha just like when Don Cherry said visors were only used by Europeans and French Canadiens, everyone jumped on him. Turns out he was mostly right.

243's are for women and children. How many people on this thread just said that their wife or kids use it, or that its limitation is waiting for the perfect shot?

I'm not arguing that 243 isn't a good round, it's actually fantastic. I just don't see any reason why one who's not a fairy would use 243 over 308, unless they were shooting varmints and wanted to save money.
 
Some of us old farts like the idea of a gun that has no recoil, and acceptable noise levels. I'll keep the Magnums just for gits and shiggles, but I can't wait to start building my 6.5 X 55.
 
I just bought my 1st 243 ever, a Tikka T3.
Gonna give 80gr'ers a try and in the mean time decide what scope to put on. I'm thinking a Redfield, any ideas?

Most of my cousins/friends from Saskabush shoot either the .243 or .270 so I thought why the heck not!
 
I think it's a great cartridge for everything in canada except for grizzly and bison. Many people have used it on moose elk and caribou without a problem it's all about bullet construction and shot placement.
 
My wife has a remington youth model in 243. I load 85gr tsx and for this year the 80gr ttsx. She's killed lots of deer with it and I've killed deer and a big black bear with it. There is nothing sissy about a 243. It's short, weighs nothing and it doesn't kick. I can climb up trees, carry it all day and crawl through the sticks with it without snagging every branch like on my wby mk5 with a 26" barrel for example. I love that gun and the caliber will drop deer at 300 yards no problem and we all know the tsx is good stuff.
 
I had H4350 when I started loading for it. That got me 1/2" at 100yards and that's what I stuck with. I use 45gr with the 85gr tsx. Haven't had a chance to test the 80gr ttsx yet but I also used H4350 for those.
 
philthygeezer said:
What do you think of this cartridge, and why? Seems like a nice flat little cartridge with very little recoil...
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Taken several deer with it using a Savage 99F. Can hunt all day, light recoil means a lighter gun so you don't get tired carrying it. Right now, its my favorite cartridge for short to intermediate range. For longer ranges I go with a bigger round but almost as fast. But then recoil and rifle weight go up.
 
Rocket Surgery said:
243's are for women and children. How many people on this thread just said that their wife or kids use it, or that its limitation is waiting for the perfect shot?

I just don't see any reason why one who's not a fairy would use 243 over 308.
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huh, so now we are saying woman can't shoot the bigger calibers? I've heard people say the same thing about the 25-06, 22-250, 270wsm. Its like saying 4 cylinders are for the ladies and v6s are for men. ( i hate car/rifle analogies, but in this case, it works.

and as for the fairy comment: is everything a #### measuring, chest thumping, recoil thing?
 
243 hardly offers much in weight savings over its parent case 308, and limits your bullet selection whether or not you reload

I shot enfields and C1's when I was a wee 12 year old army cadet and had no issues with recoil. If you can't handle the recoil of 308, maybe its time to learn how to properly hold a rifle.
 
243 is nice and ida bought one but I bought a 25-06 instead. More energy at farther distances. It vapourizes groundhogs and hits coyotes like lightning and knocks deer on their ass. I can't personally use a 243 for anything bigger then deer. Larger game deserves a larger caliber. You may or may not agree with me it don't much matter. But if you can afford to hunt moose and bear and elk you should be able to afford a more suitable caliber
 
243 is a great round - but sooner or later you may find yourself cussing when you lost a bruiser you hit well.....

To me it is all about the margin of effectiveness of the rifle and round you pick. Any bullet can kill a moose or elk for instance - it is a matter of hitting it exactly and waiting.

But if you try the wrong angle or wrong distance - you move outside your margin of effectiveness and you are in trouble.


I have seen a few monster Alberta whitetail drift into the darkest of bush never to be seen again after good, solid hits with a 243 by great hunters. Everything should have worked - but it failed for whatever variable reason.

I want to expand my margins and therefore pick something more robust for the larger critters.

Again, it will kill anything - I own a few- but I choose to arm myself with something that throws more weight.
 
The 243 is a great caliber that fill a niche but at the end i always end up walking in the wood with my Steyr Scout 308 on the shoulder... JP.
 
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